RAPPORTEURSHIP
ON PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY CONCLUDES VISIT TO ECUADOR

Washington, D.C.,
May 28, 2010 — The Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of
Liberty of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) carried
out a visit to the Republic of Ecuador on May 19-21, 2010, in the
context of a standing invitation extended to the IACHR by the State of
Ecuador. The delegation was composed of the Rapporteur, Commissioner
Rodrigo Escobar Gil, and staff of the Executive Secretariat. The
Inter-American Commission would like to express its appreciation to the
government and people of Ecuador for their cooperation and for the
unrestricted access to prison facilities during the course of the visit,
and to Ecuadorian nongovernmental organizations for the information and
cooperation they provided.

The delegation met
with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Integration,
Kintto Lucas; the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, José Serrano;
the President of the National Court of Justice, Ruben Darío Bravo; the National Director for Social Rehabilitation, Alexandra Zumárraga; the Deputy Secretary for Social Rehabilitation, Leddy Zúñiga;
and technical staff from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The
delegation also met with the Human Rights Advisor for Ecuador of the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Guillermo Fernández Maldonado, and representatives of Ecuadorian civil
society organizations that work on issues involving people in custody.

The Rapporteurship
on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty recognizes that important
progress has been made on prison matters. It views positively the
advancement of public policies designed to address the main problems of
the prison system, and the existence of four new projects to build
social rehabilitation centers. The Rapporteurship also values the
concrete measures that have been adopted to reduce overcrowding; the
considerable increase in the number of public defenders; the adequate
upkeep and staffing of the child-care centers at the Quito and Guayaquil
Women’s Center for Social Rehabilitation; and the steps taken recently
to reduce the rates of violence inside the Men’s Prison of the Litoral
Penitentiary.

In the legislative
and institutional arena, the Rapporteurship views as positive the
creation of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; the recognition at
the constitutional level of an important catalogue of rights of persons
deprived of liberty; and the establishment of courts to supervise prison
sentences. On this point, the Rapporteurship emphasizes the importance
of adopting the necessary measures to implement and make these courts
operational for the supervision of custodial sentences contemplated in
the Constitution.

The Rapporteurship
on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty took the opportunity to
visit the Quito Women’s Center for Social Rehabilitation and the Litoral
Penitentiary in Guayaquil. At the Litoral Penitentiary, the Rapporteur
visited the Men’s Prison, the Women’s Center, and the Center for
Provisional Detention.

Notwithstanding
the progress mentioned above, the IACHR Rapporteurship verified that
situations that are incompatible with the effective guarantee of the
rights of persons deprived of liberty continue to exist. Along these
lines, the delegation observed that there is an overall shortage of
resources to provide adequate nourishment to those who have been
detained; the daily budget of one dollar per person in custody is
insufficient to adequately cover the nutritional needs of the prison
population. The delegation also observed that there is a shortage of
medicine, medical supplies, and medical personnel, particularly
specialists in gynecology and in mental health; that prisons are still
overpopulated at the national level; that those who are charged are not
segregated from those who have been convicted; and that it is necessary
to implement effective rehabilitation programs. It verified in
particular that the physical, sanitary, plumbing, and electrical
installations of the Men’s Prison and the Center for Provisional
Detention of the Litoral Penitentiary are in poor condition and are
inadequate for the number of inmates; and that the Women’s Center for
Social Rehabilitation in Quito needs to increase its security staff. The
Rapporteurship is also troubled that persons are being held in policy
custody for up to several days for not carrying personal identity
documents.

During the visit,
the delegation held meetings with various nongovernmental organizations
which provided information on the situation of persons deprived of
liberty. Thus, for example, the delegation received information
indicating the persistence of practices of torture for purposes of
criminal investigation and of mistreatment committed by elements of the
police. With respect to the practice of torture in Ecuador, the IACHR
has addressed this in several of its prior reports and in decisions in
contentious cases; hence it reiterates that international law absolutely
prohibits torture. In this regard, the IACHR recognizes the importance
of prevention as a method to eliminate violations of the rights to
humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty, and urges the State of
Ecuador to ratify the United Nations’ Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, and to implements its prevention mechanisms.

Taking into
account the delegation’s observations during the visit, the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urges the Ecuadorian State to
take the necessary measures to ensure that the rights of persons
deprived of liberty are fully respected and guaranteed. To this end, it
recommends that the State: adopt concrete measures to improve the
quality of nutrition for those in custody; repair or rebuild the
installations and infrastructure of prisons that are in poor condition;
ensure the adequate provision of medicine and medical supplies for
prison facilities; increase the number of health-care professionals
working in prisons, particularly specialists in mental health and in
gynecology; continue taking steps designed to reduce prison
overcrowding; and implement and make operational the courts for the
supervision of prison sentences.

This visit was
made possible thanks to the valuable financial support of the government
of Spain.

A principal,
autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR
derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on
Human Rights.The
Commission is composed of seven independent members who act in a
personal capacity, without representing a particular country, and who
are elected by the OAS General Assembly.